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Disappionted

My house burnt down July of 2012. I called to suspend my Directv service a couple days later. When I called they told me there would be no charges incurred for receivers or anything because of what had happened. Last month (october 2012) I got to move into the new house. I called to restart my service. I told them I wanted 1-HDDVR receiver and 2-standard receivers. Instead I got 2-DVR receivers and 1-standard. I of course called to complain about this with no luck at all. That is when I learned that the 3 receivers I had in the house that burnt were still on my account. So I wrote down the numbers off the receivers I have now so that the others could be taken off. When I called to give them these numbers I was informed that I would owe them around $250 for the old receivers. Also, just got my first bill - I haven't even been moved in a whole month - and it is about $60.00 higher than what it should be. There are multiple fees on there that I don't understand.
I am to the point of switching to a different service. I do not want it to effect my credit score but I can't justify paying a company that has lied to me this many times.

Not gonna happen. The claim was paid in full. I don't have anymore money to get. If they would have told me that I had to pay for them when I asked the first time I could have included that on my insurance claims. That or I would have dug through the ashes left behind from everything I own and my two dogs that didn't make it out and "recovered" the receivers to send back to them.
If this would have been the first issue with them recently I might not be as mad but since reactivating my account I have had nothing but problems.

I don't care about them other than the fact that I was told I wouldn't have to pay for them and now they want to charge me $250 for them. They knew from the beginning that I did not have them to return. I told them when I suspended my service (big mistake I should have just cancelled then), when I called to activate my account they asked about them and I told them what happened again, when the guy came out to set up my service he asked about them again I told hi what happened, I told them at least 5 times and no one ever mentioned any fees until I called to tell them which receivers I still have (Why don't they know this?) thats when the CSR told me about the fees. All the while I have been arguing with them about them sending me the wrong equipment - which none of which works worth a crap. ON top of all of it I have a ton of crazy charges on my bill

Yeah sorry for the quip I just love my dog so much I’d be beside myself with greif. Your right they should have told you to claim them on your insurance, but I bet it don’t come up much at customer service. Direct TV is not very flexible when it comes to their receivers. If I saved up the dough I have spent on direct TV equipment over the years. I'd be spending February in Hawaii.

No worries. The issues I have with Directv don't even come close to the pain I still feel everyday about my babies. I have no children of my own and they were my kids. I hate myself on a daily basis for not being able to get them out. After everything that has happened I just wished that there would be a sensitive person out there to help me.

I'm very sorry for your loss and very happy these guys could connect you with someone who could make things a little easier. D* needs to take a careful look at how poor their phone support can be at giving thoughtless and inconsistent answers to customers. I can't imagine being on the other side of the phone and speaking with a customer with a story like yours and giving you a flip response like they did without trying to do something to help you. A little compassion and a whole lot more training and oversight would go a long way to improve the D* experience.

Really?...If i wrecked my car right now without comprehensive insurance....should i demand replacements for free? Just sayin

He didn't demand anything for free. They told him they wouldn't charge him. He has a right to be upset when they change their tune after he's missed out on the opportunity to claim them on his insurance.

Really?...If i wrecked my car right now without comprehensive insurance....should i demand replacements for free? Just sayin

Ah, but he DID have comprehensive insurance. He was told he was not responsible for the cost of the receivers that were lost and then billed for them by the very people who told him he was not responsible for that expense.

Had DirecTV told him it was on his dime at the very beginning he could have claimed it and his insurance would have covered it.

Why should he be left holding the bag for DirecTV's inability to put forth a consistent position?

"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."--Frank Zappa

Ah, but he DID have comprehensive insurance. He was told he was not responsible for the cost of the receivers that were lost and then billed for them by the very people who told him he was not responsible for that expense.

Had DirecTV told him it was on his dime at the very beginning he could have claimed it and his insurance would have covered it.

Why should he be left holding the bag for DirecTV's inability to put forth a consistent position?

the cable boxes and sat boxes should have there own insurance from the place that you rent them from that covers fires / hurricanes / ect.

and they should bill real costs not the price for a new box for one that is 5 years old.

Breezy, so sorry to hear about your loss. I went through a house fire when I was 15 and have known a few others who have gone through it. I don't wish that on anyone. I'm also very sad to hear about your pets, as I know how hard it is to lose them as well.

the cable boxes and sat boxes should have there own insurance from the place that you rent them from that covers fires / hurricanes / ect.

and they should bill real costs not the price for a new box for one that is 5 years old.

I believe this is correct, and it is probably what Ellen's team ended up doing. I think that this does not happen very often so the regular CSRs (and even Wahooq it seems) do not realize what they should actually be doing here.

This is not your normal non-return fee situation.

One of my close friends had the same situation happen a couple years ago. He had a house fire and put his account on suspension. I told him to specifically talk to DirecTV about the receivers being lost in the fire and they did confirm with him on the phone that he would not be charged for the lost receivers, and he did not have to submit them as a claim to his insurance company. DirecTV said they would take care of the loss internally.

Once he got moved back into his house, and started unpacking he found that one of the receivers had actually not been destroyed. It had been packed up and cleaned by the company that cleaned all of his other posessions. He called DirecTV and told them and they said for him just to throw it away or recycle it as it had been marked in the system as a dead unit or something like that and it would no longer be able to be activated on any system.

Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
-by Jack Handy